Hardcore | | Cast : | George C. Scott, Peter Boyle | | Director : | Paul Schrader | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | , 1979 | | DVD Released Date : | September 14, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 19, 2005 | | Summary | This Religious Guy Sure Is Violent!!! | Content
 | In this movie George C. Scott plays a religious Calvanist who discovers to his horror that his daugher is appearing in low budget porno films. Perhaps she was rebelling against her strict religious upbringing? That has been known to happen. So George poses as a Porno Producer and beats up a lot of guys as he tries to find her. This movie is solely redeemed by the presence of Season Hubley who is one of my favourite actresses and who sadly we do not see enough of in films these days. Why on Earth Kurt Russell divorced her and married Goldie Hawn is totally beyond me. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 09, 2004 | | Summary | Disappointing Search in 70's Underbelly | Content
| I was disappointed with Hardcore because the combo of Schrader and Scott would seem to have all the makings of a loud violent machete hack through a seedy jungle. Instead it resounds limply, what with everything working out and real change, catharsis completely absent. Scott, despite glowing feelings from other reviews here, seemed bored to me. The direction too left much to be desired, as Scott seems, during one key scene, to be both out of it and riveted, seeing his daughter "perform." Scott also has a scene where, perhaps in deference to etiquette (or repressed curiosity?), he allows and "actor" to show off his wares. Then later in the game, in a scene between father and daughter there is a hole left gapping, as to what it was that drove her into such a world.
For a time piece, of a world where porn and sex weren't as in-your-face as today, Hardcore has significance. When porn films switched titles constantly and were cast out of the classifieds, Hardcore also has a weight. But when porno's were made in motels with the doors and window shades open, and conservative G.C. Scott kicks perfectly cast Peter Boyle out of his own apartment, Hardcore leaves a wimpy, this-is-not-Taxi-Driver-at-all taste. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 21, 2004 | | Summary | Silly Hardcore | Content
| This film has much to recommend it not the least George C. Scott's commanding performance as the anguished Calvinist father searching for his teenage daughter through the seamy milieu of the porn world. The film's establishing shots of the Midwest Calvinist world are superb as well. It's when the film explores the porn world where the film get's silly. Watching Scott delve into this world in various Leisure Suit Larry get-ups going from peep-show to bondage house is laughable. The film seems more concerned about displaying every form of perversion than about finding Scott's exploited daughter. It's a credit to Scott's superior acting ability that the film and not he appear silly. It would also have helped that we knew a little more about his daughter for us to sympathize with his plight. Peter Boyle also gives a commendable performance as the sleazy detective Scott hires to find his daughter, lest people forget that Boyle was a superb character actor before he became a crotchety couch potato on "Everybody Loves Raymond". This film can also be viewed as a decent time-capsule curio of a time when red light districts thrived before the advent of home video and cyber-porn. If you want to see a better representation of the seventies porn world rent "Boogie Nights". I could also recommend this as a cult film but the exploitation of children by pornographers is too serious a problem.
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| Rating | | | Date | September 16, 2004 | | Summary | Into the heart of darkness... | Content
| Businessman Jake Van Doren's(George C. Scott in a riveting, brilliant performance) life and his deeply held religious beliefs are shaken to their core. Van Doren's teenage daughter doesn't return from a church outing. Worried, Van Doran hires a private detective Andy Mast(Peter Boyle)to help track her down. What Mast returns with shakes Van Doren Calvinist faith. His daughter has been appearing in cheap porno movies. Van Doren realizes the only way to bring his daughter back from this seamy, sordid world is if he goes to get her himself. He poses as a porno producer to get leads that will take him to his daughter in hopes that he can get her back before something truly horrible happens to her.
This riveting drama from Paul Schrader ("Taxi Driver")clearly draws from some of Schrader's own convictions and religious beliefs. His upbringing as a Calvinist influences and informs the character of Van Doren. Scott, Boyle "Outland", "Everybody Loves Raymond"), Dick Sargant ("Bewitched"), Season Hubley and Marc Alaimo ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine")The DVD transfer looks crisp and sharp. Unfortunately, the age of the film and the film stock means that it does look grainy but that actually works in favor of the story capturing the harsh look of porno movies and giving a gritty reality to the film.
There's no extras on the film which is a pity. I would love to have heard Schrader's comments on the making of the film 25 years later. While George C. Scott isn't around any longer, Season Hubley and Peter Boyle could also have provided a commentary track (and it would have been less expensive to produce than a featurette on the making of the film). It seems to me I recall a vintage promo piece that was aired on TV during its theatrical run. Including that along with some updated interviews with Boyle, Hubley and producer Buzz Feitshans would have provided extra value here but, knowing the limited budget the producer of the DVD had to work with, it was probably cost prohibitive. It's a pity as this terrific but brutal film certainly deserves far better than just a standard transfer without any extras. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 31, 2003 | | Summary | T-U-L-I-P | Content
| There are so many inside-joke demons being exorcised here. Schrader himself is a product of the christian reformed dutch immigrant tradition, with the apex of that life being in Grand Rapids, MI. Schrader attended Calvin College in GR, trying desperately to get thrown out. Having graduated from there myself, i perfectly understand why. ...this film is the most autobiographical religious story I have ever seen. WOnderfully, painfully honest. If only it would come out on DVD. |
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